


It’s up to your knees out there

by Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Hope you still enjoy, M/M, Pre-Slash, Snowed In, There’s a dog, Woo it’s Christmas, because I refuse to write Steve without a dog, i kinda procrastinated so this is hella rushed, im gonna write u a sequel that’s actual slash I swear, im so sorry, the dog has a wholeass backstory but it didn’t fit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28279758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia/pseuds/Spicy_Cannoli_AKA_Lia
Summary: Billy Hargrove gets kicked out for the night just as a snowstorm hits... wonder where he’ll end up in!(Spoiler: at Steve’s)
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56
Collections: Harringrove Holiday Exchange 2020





	It’s up to your knees out there

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Peanut_Boi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peanut_Boi/gifts).



> Read the tags for more info but... this is kinda rushed... IM SO SORRY I LEFT THIS FOR THE END, ONLY TO BE SURPRISED WITH A TRIP TO A WIFILESS PLACE (also F on the chat my computer died) ANYWYAS
> 
> I’m so sorry this is rushed. I had more planned but it couldn’t fit, however if you’re interested in seeing more then... I might write a sequel where they actually get together? Maybe a three chartered thing? Idk tell me if you want it (also Chestnut origins inside).
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

Billy looked at the door that had just slammed in his face with dismay. 

He was sure that his father didn’t mean- well, he meant every word he said, and he probably meant it when he said he didn’t want to see Billy till tomorrow, but surely he didn’t realise how cold it was. Surely he was just going through their own Cali routine and hadn’t actually meant to let Billy  _ die _ from hypothermia  _ right? _

Well, whatever his intentions were, the facts were that 1) Billy was outside, and 2) it was far too cold to be outside. In the minute and a half he had spent on his driveway, the sky decided that it, too, hated him and it started to snow. 

The first flakes of snow were enough of a shock to get Billy moving because if there was one thing he knew, it was that when Neil kicked him out, he wouldn’t let him back in until  _ at least _ a day had passed. But Billy had nowhere to go. His keys were still inside, and it was far too close to Christmas (the 23rd) for him to crash at someone’s place. All his acquaintances were either spending time with their families or outside the state. 

…

_ Outside of state _ ! People left for hols!  _ Rich _ people left for the Hols! He could find an empty house, do a little BnE, spend the night at a warm big place, and go back home the next day! If he managed to reach the richer area of Hawkins before he froze to death.

The falling snow seemed to get heavier, the snow on the ground getting taller and taller until it actually made walking difficult. The snow he had on his shoulders and hair kept melting and getting him wet, and his shivers kept getting stronger and rougher. Billy knew he wouldn’t survive the night out.

So he walked. And he walked. By the time he reached the neighbourhood with the clean streets and the big houses, Billy was drenched. He hugged his jean jacket close, hating the fact Neil hadn’t even let him grab a coat or a sweater. 

Still, he had no time to dilly dally around, so he walked towards the woody area of the neighbourhood and started staring into houses. He saw a couple of families eating dinner, a few that had already settled for the night, and a couple of empty-looking ones. 

He looked at them from every possible angle, discarding one of the three after hearing some music coming from the garage, before settling on two. He wasn’t quite sure if they were  _ really _ empty, Billy had never attempted this before after all, but another full-body shiver was the last straw. Without further thought, Billy went towards the cleanest looking one. He decided before he tried anything extreme he should try the glass door at the pool and- it was open? 

Clearly, Hawkins didn’t have enough robbers. He rolled his eyes at the lax security and entered the house -which was full of unplugged Christmas lights- leaving behind a trail of wet footprints and water droplets. He didn’t bother trying to minimise the mess he left -he’d clean it tomorrow morning- and just headed straight towards the fireplace. 

Billy had to think for a bit to recall how to turn it on without filling the house with smoke -last time he’d operated one was on a school trip a few years ago- but soon enough the fireplace was full of burning wood and emitting warmth. 

Billy didn’t know how long he stayed in front of the fireplace -with a blanket he stole from the couch around his shoulders- but one second he was feeling the warmth on his closed eyelids, and the next he was lying on the ground, face getting full of- slobber? 

Billy quickly opened his eyes and raised his head up, only to see a big furry dog standing in front of him. The giant beast left him alone for a few seconds, only to go back at licking his face as soon as he had settled himself. The dog -Saint Bernard probably- kept at it even with Billy pushing him with what little strength he had left.

“Hey- hey Chesnut, give it a break,” 

Billy looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. He blinked a few times before realising that yes, that was indeed Harrington standing above him. 

“Am I dreaming orrr is that youuu Harrington?” he slurred, echoing the words he uttered less than two months ago. The light -which he didn’t remember turning on, must’ve been Harrington- was too strong for him so he closed his eyes again, removing one hand from the dog’s chest and using it to cover his eyes.

“...yeah it’s me don’t cream your pants,” Harrington reluctantly said. “What’re you doing here” 

“What’sss it look like, dumbass” he started, slurring his words, “I’m squatting”

Even though he had his eyes closed, he could still feel the judgmental look Harrington must’ve been giving him. The dog -Chesnut- seemed to have no problem, however, and quickly resumed his slobbery licking. 

“Well you’re a shit squatter, this house ain’t empty” there was a short pause as if he was about to add something else, but a violent shiver from Billy seemed to change his mind. 

“Why are you so wet anyway, did you come here on foot?”

Billy opened his eyes and gave Harrington a look.

“...I’m taking that as a yes”

Billy rolled his eyes before addressing Harrington once more.

“Look man, let me stay for a few more minutes and-“ 

“Are you crazy? I don’t know how the weather was like when you arrived but there’s no way you’re going out right now” he said with a frown. 

The comment made Billy raise his head up to look at the glass doors he came from and- it was certainly snowing more than when he came in. Like a lot. The floor around the pool wasn’t even visible anymore. 

The sight of it all caused Billy to shiver once more, and scoot closer to the fire. He was thankful that his clothes were mostly dried.

“Neither of us are leaving tonight, Hargrove.” Harrington said, an air of finality in his tone. “You can have a guest room, come on I’ll show you,” his head gave a nudge towards the staircase and he started walking up, Chestnut was soon to follow. 

Billy hadn’t realised how much warmth the Saint Bernard emitted till he was gone. Suddenly the fire didn’t feel like enough. Billy stood up with shaky legs, pulled the blanket tighter and followed to two.

“Did you forget what happened two months ago or do you invite everyone who beats you up for a sleepover” Billy said, and immediately regretted it. Here he was, getting a free warm room because Harrington was -well stupid is the word he’d use, there he was again, biting the hand that feeds him. The point was, Billy suffered from foot in the mouth syndrome and too much pride to take the shit he said back. 

“ _ Damn you’re such an asshole _ ” Harrington muttered to himself before looking back at Billy. “Look, you might be a huge dick, but you don’t deserve to die out there.” 

He noticed Billy’s opened mouth and rolled his eyes. 

“Which is what you’ll do if you go out. Trust me, California, you don’t want to sleep in a snowstorm” he stopped walking in front of a door. 

“Here we are. That’s your… temporary room. The room in front of yours is mine and the door to the right is a bathroom. You really should take a hot shower and warm up, I’ll get you some clothes.”

And that was that.

* * *

Billy really thought staying at his -well not nemesis… rival maybe? It hadn’t been much of a fight for the title of King, but they certainly weren’t friends-  _ Harrington’s _ house would be a much bigger deal. 

But here he was, laying in bed underneath two thick comforters in Harrington’s clothes. The sweater he was wearing was thick and soft and obviously was expensive. Which led him back to his original point, how the fuck was him sleeping here such a nonchalant thing, did he knock a few screws loose on Harrington? 

A soft scratching on his door took him out of his thoughts. Billy stared at the door, wondering if he made it up, before it returned with much more vigour. 

With a confused expression, Billy opened the door, only to find the big dog.

“Arwoo?” 

“I have no idea what that means.” 

The dog huffed at him and made his way into the room. 

“Well let yourself in then I guess” 

The dog gave him a look, before climbing into his bed and laying there. Billy was about to complain, before he remembered how warm the dog felt before. 

“Sure ok -Chestnut was it?” Billy didn’t wait for an answer before he climbed to bed and continued, “As long as you don’t lick my hair I’m fine with this.” 

Chestnut licked his cheek, as if to tell him what he thought of his rules, before resting his head again on the pillow -one of the three pillows on the giant bed because of course Harrington’s guest room had huge beds- and closing his droopy eyes. Billy decided to just follow his example and closed his eyes. Sleep found him easy. 

* * *

Billy only woke up once that night. 

_ He woke to a bright light coming from the door. When he turned to it he could see Harrington’s face peering from the doorway. _

_ “Hey Chess” he whispered “Come here” _

_ At that Billy narrowed his eyes. _

_ “Noo, s’warm”  _

_ “Um”  _

_ Billy gave Harrington a glare for good measure, before rolling to the other side and going back to sleep. Normally he’d tell the brunet to fuck off, but this  _ was _ his house after all. _

Besides that incident, Billy had a peaceful night. So peaceful it was, that Billy woke up far later than he was used to, in a dog-less bed.

Years of living with Neil had conditioned Billy to wake up at 06 every day, no matter if it was a weekday or the weekend. It seemed like the cold had taken out more of him than he thought however, as the clock on the guest room clearly marked 08:29. 

_ Fuck _ .  _ Well, at least it was early enough that it was unlikely Harrington would be awake as well,  _ the thought, as he walked down the stairs, only to have that thought die as he got down and reached the door.

“I wouldn’t go out if I were you,”

Billy was about to tell the brunet -who he really should’ve apologised to by now- what he thought about that, only to have him point towards the TV with his remote. 

_ “Well John, I sure hope you weren’t planning on going out this week, as last night's snowstorm was one of the bigger ones we’ve seen in years.” _

_ “It sure was, Linda. The streets are covered in ice and snow, and driving is heavily discouraged after all. And it looks like it might snow again this night! We sure wouldn’t-“  _

At that point Billy stopped paying attention. 

“Am I supposed to just  _ stay _ here then?”

“Well, this isn’t exactly my idea of a good time either,” Harrington said with a glare. “It’s like I said before, I’m not sending you to your death.” 

“Wow I’m so glad I ended up at the magnanimous Queen Steve’s palace then, your generosity knows no bounds your grace” 

“Oh shut the fuck up, it’s not like I want to spend Christmas with you either! Just, look let’s just make a pact and be civil. Didn’t the Nazis or whatever stop the war at Christmas?” 

“...Soldiers did make a truce on Christmas that’s right… though I feel like you don’t have your facts right somehow…”

Noticing Harrington looked close to murder, Billy decided to deescalate. 

“That’s fine I guess. Making a truce I mean.” He said. Harrington gave him an annoyed look before leaning back on the sofa. 

As he sighed, Billy realised for the first time just how  _ tired _ Harrington seemed to be. He had bags under his eyes, his normally voluminous and well kept hair was a mess. 

“What the fuck happened to you? Also since when are you an orphan” He couldn’t help but ask.

Harrington just stared at him before gesturing towards his phone. 

“Feel free to call your folks or whatever so they know you’re not dead”

…

Message received then. 

After a quick call -that Susan answered, thank god- Billy had the rest of the day free to do fuck all. After snooping around Billy ended up where he started. In the living room, staring at Harrington and his dog watch TV. 

“So… I guess the weather won’t let your parents come for christmas,” he said, trying to get some information on why the old king of Hawkins high was spending the 24th alone with his dog, said dog who had never been mentioned before by the way… not that he and Harrington were close enough to talk about pets.

Harrington gave him a look that told Billy he knew exactly what he was doing, before sighing and answering the question. 

“They wouldn’t get here even if the skies were clear,” he answered. “They’re somewhere in Europe, don’t know. I decided to stay because, well in case anything went wrong with the Ga- anything happened to the kids” 

And yes, Billy had catched the quick topic change for what it was but…  _ what was it _ with Harrington and the kids.

“What’s your deal with those preteens? I mean, I admit I went a little-” wait if he was apologizing he should put a little heart into it “-well, a  _ lot _ overboard, but when you see a guy your age hiding your fourteen year old sister…”

Harrington gave him an indignant look.

“Dude, I swear to god I didn’t do anything to them. There were actually a bunch of adults in that room before you arrived, they left to find this other kid and left me in charge.  _ Don’t give me that look _ , ask Joyce Byers or Chief Hopper if you want! Also that was a shit apology… thought i guess that’s the best I’ll get from you”

Billy gave him a suspicious look before sitting on the other side of the sofa with a pensive look.

“Look Harrington-”

“Steve”

“Look Steve- wait what?”

“I’m not going to spend christmas with someone who doesn’t even call me by my first name”

“Christmas? Oh shit you’re right… Look Harrin- Steve. I… I was an asshole… and I’m sorry.”

Harrington- no Steve gave a soft sighed and petted Chestnut’s head. 

“It’s fine, that’s not even the worse thing that happened that day. Look just, let’s just be civil until you leave my house ok?” 

“Yeah sure.” Billy was quick to agree. He went off to explore the kitchen only to immediately come back when he noticed how barren it was.

“Wait Steve,” and wow did it still feel weird to use his first name, “what’re you gonna eat for dinner tonight?” 

“Huh?” Steve looked at him with puzzlement in his face. “I don’t know, cereal?” 

“Jesus Harrington, you live like this?” Billy asked in dismay immediately going back to the kitchen. Chestnut seemed to get tired of laying down and followed him too.

“It’s  _ Steve, _ Hargrove, and yes, you shouldn’t insult the person giving you shelter you know?” Steve said, following after the two.

Billy looked around the kitchen drawers and in every nook and cranny for food. While Steve had a big collection of spices, he practically had no meat.

“If I’m calling you Steve you might as well call me Billy,” he said, closing the fridge's door. “Damn is pasta all you have? Hmm it’s not Christmas dinner but I guess it’ll do”

“What?” 

“I’m cooking you dinner. You might like spending Christmas Eve in your castle of solitude, but I’d like a good meal.”

He made himself a sandwich for lunch and quickly got to work on a boxed cake he found. 

* * *

“Well, it’s no turkey, but it’ll do,” he said, putting down the tray with the box chocolate cake. 

Their meal consisted on spaghetti aglio e olio with tuna mixed in -he had no idea if Italians would behead him for it, but it tasted good, was filling, and most importantly; could be made with the ingredients Steve had- some ham filled olives Steve just happened to have -but of course he had no bread- some eggnog and for desert the chocolate cake. 

It was certainly a weird Christmas Eve meal, but it wasn’t bad by any means. A thing Steve was sure to remind him as he moaned with every bite.

“Hmmmm thish ish sho fuckin’ gooo” he moaned with his mouth full. 

“Jesus Harrington, get some manners!”

“It’s St-“

“No uh, you lose your Steve privileges until you come back to society,”

Billy was choked to say the banter wasn’t half bad either. Talking with Harrington without any real heat between them was… fun, to say the least. Whenever things got awkward -like when Steve asked about his mother- Chestnut seemed to know and was quick to defuse the mood by begging for some food or trying to climb a chair. 

All in all, the evening… wasn’t bad. When it came time for them to say goodnight, Billy couldn’t help but to find himself reluctant. 

“So, uh, I guess this is goodnight” he said, a little awkwardly.

Steve just looked at him and smiled -and why the fuck was that affecting his insides, don’t tell him he had a-

“Merry Christmas Billy” 

_ Well fuck. _

**Author's Note:**

> So like... I don’t know the first thing about snow... I live in the Caribbean....... please forgive any inaccuracies


End file.
